I‘m happy to announce that my story “Oats” is currently appearing in The Sirens Call eZine Issue #8 – Men in Horror!
Sirens Call has consistently published strong anthologies since emerging on the horror scene, and their eZines have definitely followed suit. Issue #8 is no different. 98 pages of horrific fun featuring short stories, flash fiction, poetry, artwork and more. The unbelievable thing is that the ladies over at Sirens Call make their eZines free to everyone. Download and read it chunks at a time or devour it all at once! The choice is yours!
What’s so special about “Oats,” you ask? Well, I’ve kept and maintained a collection of story ideas since 1992, and no matter how silly or odd an idea may sound, into my tome it goes! It could be something snipped from the news, or a nightmarish conjuring from within my head. No idea is judged; no idea deemed too good or bad.
“Oats” originated around 1993 as an unnamed, loose story about a child who loses a tooth and the evil father who won’t allow said child to keep it. I knew that Sirens Call was looking for submissions for Issue #8, so I decided it would be fun to go burrowing into my journal. Lo and behold, an entry caught my eye. Twenty years later, I am proud of the fact I birthed that idea to fruition.
So what do you get when you mix a creepy tooth fairy and my love for oatmeal in one bowl? Well, “Oats” of course.
Please download Sirens Call Publications Issue #8 – Men in Horror! for free and read “Oats“, which is on page 34, along with the a multitude of fine stories by talented writers including two other Pen of the Damned members!. Please drop me a message and let me know what you think.
This is great news! Well done, mister! 🙂
Thank you, Ms Chatty-chatty! 🙂
Congratulations…its a great thing. So happy for you..juat dowloaded issue and cant wait to read it:).
Hey Meredith! Thank you very much!! I think you’ll have a blast reading it 🙂
Congrats, Joe. This is good news! I’ll download now. 🙂
Thanks so much, Lee! You’ll really enjoy both “Oats” as well as Sirens Call’s ezine! 🙂
This is a great story, Joe! I love the tooth fairy twist – I always knew she was up to no good! 😉
Damn that tooth fairy, Nina! That bitch never left money for me when I was young!! lol
Congrats Joe!
Thank you so much!! I hope you have the chance to read it soon! 🙂
yeah, I hope to get a kindle copy if it’s not too much.
It’s a free download directly from Sirens Call’s site. Free. Their ezine is too big for Kindle, I believe (to keep it free)
Oh, i didn’t know that, thanks for the info.
You’re welcome!
I’m just commenting on this tale everywhere today! Brilliantly told with the child’s voice, loved the last sentence. Also enjoying this issue of The Sirens Call as a whole. 🙂
🙂 Thank you very much Karen! I bet you’re happy that I love oatmeal the way I do, huh? lol
Ha! Trust you to be able to build a story with oatmeal as the inspiration. I was glad to hear about your tome of ideas – no idea too weird. I have a similar file. I just need to create some more stories from my ideas now!
lol Hi Karen! One thing I’ve learned…never discard idea no matter how silly they seem…and don’t “over-think” them…you can grind out your writing but never an idea 🙂
Congrats Joe! That’s great news.
Thanks, Hunter! Much appreciated! Sirens Call puts out a very nice ezine, don’t they?
They do. 🙂
Nice work.
Those ideas you wrote down years ago never get stale – I rebooted and fixed up an old story that was mostly finished and managed to turn it into one of my better short stories. Old ideas are never old.
Plus it’s good fun to look back at what you’ve written down.
Hi!! Thank you 🙂 Yep, so true: old ideas are only “old” in age but never in the telling 🙂
Thank you for reading 🙂
I’m a little late to this party, but a huge congrats to ou Joe! Wicked-good stuff.
Hey Zack, thank you! Did you get a chance to download the ezine yet?
Not yet. I haven’t been in a location where I could, but I should get it downloaded tonight or tomorrow.
Sounds good!
Finally downloaded the ezine. Where in the hell have I been, and why in the hell have I not been reading this thing all along? Son-of-a-bitch…… GREAT story!
lmao Thanks Zack! I tried to tell you! :p I’m thrilled you enjoyed ‘Oats’
You were right as rain man. Oats was great!
Plus, it was a little inspirational… I now know what I’m going to do for extra cash when I start getting furloughed in October. *gripping pliers*
Thanks, Zack! Pliers are such an overlooked tool 😉
Loved this Joe…..but I never want to to eat oatmeal ever again 😉
Thank you very much, Linzi!! 🙂 You’ll be in trouble if I decide to write a story called “Eggs!’ lmao
What a deranged story…I LOVED it! Too cool. The voice was spot on and I could really hear the characters in their element. You got me good at the end. Thanks. I like it when that happens. Great work, man.
lol Thanks, Jaimie!!! I love it when I can say “Gotcha!!” Thank you for taking the time to read & comment; please tell others 🙂
Just found this post – and what a great story it is too!
Hi Thom!! Thank you damned much, my friend! 🙂
Hey Joseph, just read the story in Siren’s Call. It was very entertaining – almost a black comedy in the way it ended. Well written and you did a great job with the accent.
Thanks very much, Mike! I appreciate you taking the time to download the ezine & reading “Oats.” I had fun writing this, as you can tell lol
so excited but I kinda knew that you would be one they chose
Thank you Leslie 🙂 I hope you get the chance to download and read it sometime 🙂
I downloaded and slurped up my oats. AWESDOME story, Joe. And nice magazine, too.
Thank you, Lee!! I appreciate it! 🙂 Yes, Sirens Call does a great job with their ezines!